Songs For Guy

A return to the blog. I’ve been bad. I know. I make no excuses. I do not mention the broken internet connection. Nor do I consider telling you about the major publicity tour I have been engaged in of late. I wouldn’t dream of bringing up the promotions that have eaten into my sleep and, most likely truncated years off my life. You see I’m simply not that kind of guy.


Today my [not]-much-awaited return to the blog is in honour of a truly special show – Songs For Guy.

The concept: a cabaret-style evening of story-telling and songs from the perspective of a gay man living in New Zealand. Not one gay man, but a collection of individual gay men, all gay men in a sense. The songs range from Elton John and Billy Joel to South Pacific and Bruce Springsteen, and the stories have all been contributed by local gay men.

While typing the above paragraph I started to say that the show was a “celebration” of life from the gay perspective, but in fact I think one of the things I liked best about the show was that it wasn’t celebrating anything. It wasn’t in your face, it wasn’t angry or bitter, it just was. It seemed as natural as natural can be that these men would be talking and singing about love and the men they’d had it/done it/lost it with.

I wouldn’t like to say it “normalised” stories of gay romance, that would seem to dismiss the very reasons for its inception, but the show was so honest and open and (dare I say it again) natural, that nothing seemed amiss from any other show or bar that you might wander into.

This is the gay lifestyle I want to be a part of. Having always railed against the pill-popping, club-hopping, sleep with anything with a knob and a pulse (sometimes only one required) culture so often associated with the gay scene. This is what I’d like to see more of – gay people gathering for a drink, a sing-song and some stories that related to our lives, our experiences, and without the need for pomp and ceremony and making a big deal about it being our right to do so. We can be proud without being loud and alienating the straights.

I could be completely off the mark – this may not at all have been the intention of the show’s creators, but that’s what I took from it. As a result I believe people who don’t identify as gay can enjoy the show too, as general entertainment and an opportunity to see things from a different perspective.

The performers are all superb and all seem to come from different spheres of the gay menagerie. Cute-as-a-button Todd Emerson whom some of you may have seen me comment on before, is the stand-out to me. A) he’s the closest to my type but more importantly b) He has the clearest voice and best vocal control – attributes which did him credit in the intimate setting of the Limelight Room of the Aotea Centre.
[For Todd’s part in the shows creation, I now hereby absolve him of any responsibility in the theft of my solo in Faure’s Requiem when we were at school together.]

Also suffering the wrath of my wandering eye was Andrew Laing. He falls outside of mold of what I would describe as my type, but I would most certainly take me one of those. His cheeky expressions and deep, gruff voice drew my attention and certainly that of most of my table.

Enough stereotypical gay meat-marketing though – this is a show I urge you to see. Funny, poignant, beautiful and unique. I’m so pleased I went and would love to hear from you others who get along. I promise it won’t disappoint.


For those who are interested, this is the solo Todd stole from me rightfully earned, as sung by Kings College Cambridge.